Hotel Barcelo Habana Ciudad  5

My wife and I stayed here May 13-15, 2012. Our room was impeccable, and we liked that our bath room had a tub & shower and a separate shower stall. Little things make us happy. The hotel is well maintained. The bar was nice, and its mojitos, french fries, and live music, were impressive. We were less impressed with the breakfast buffet, but it was fine. We enjoyed walking in the Miramar neighborhood, in the direction of the ugly Russian embassy, which you can't miss. There are plenty of old mansions in Miramar, and it was pleasant to see ordinary people doing ordinary things. People to people. And while the hotel is somewhat isolated from downtown, there are plenty of affordable taxis. Our driver, Javier, was great, and at his recommendation we ate at a nearby paladar, El Partenón, which was fabulous. Javier drove us there and back, and he also drove us to and from the nearby El Rincón del Bolero. The Rincón's mojitos were good, but we arrived too early for the boleros. Please note, the music starts at 12:30. Our bad. The star of our stay was the hotel employee known (according to him) as El Chino, and I'm sorry I didn't get his name. Upon arriving at La Habana's airport, I broke my suit case, I literally pulled out the handle that let me wheel it. At the hotel I asked the manager if one of the employees could help me fix it, and soon after El Chino arrived. He examined the problem, told me he needed to think about how to fix it, he took the damaged mechanism with him, and the next day he delivered it repaired and ready to go. An ideal example of the Cuban gift of "resolver." I was happy, and El Chino left happy. For those of you interested in Cuban history, the park at Quinta Avenida and Calle 72, next to the residence of the Vietnamese ambassador and in front of the Occidental Miramar hotel, was once the site of the Peruvian Embassy, where in April of 1980 events took place that led to the Mariel exodus. A plaque marks the death of Cuban Ministry of the Interior guard Pedro Ortiz Cabrera during these events. Read more Hide description

Travelling with another couple and both our rooms absolutely stunk of urine!!! Very strong. When you dont expect this and your body and mind feel as though its midnight but its only 7pm due to the travelling you really dont want to wait another 5 hours for someone to sort this for you? They didnt understand what i was trying to tell them on reception, they actually sprayed a lemon smell firstly and when i went up to check the floor had the spray all over it and it was dangerously slippy. Anyway to cut a long story short i'm not one to come on here and moan at all but we all had to insist that we have our rooms changed as i couldnt possibly dream of going to sleep with the constant smell of urine under my nose?? They changed the rooms but were on the same floor (4th) they didnt smell but smelt a little damp and musty but we were only staying there 3 nights before going to Varedero so we just put up with it. The pool area was ok, pretty quiet really to relax. The food in this hotel does not taste of anything? We had heard all this talk of the food being bland ect but didnt realise how bland? The breakfasts were just ok. The best thing about this hotel was actually the lobby, bar and the pool. We spent our time around the pool and visiting the city on the bus which was great. Club Tropicana was a good night aswell . Worth asking reception or your rep to hire a car to take you to the club as it was worth it and not any more expensive than booking anywhere else. Book through the rep aswell for Club Tropicana aswell and they will sort you out good seats. Read more Hide description

We opted not to pay extra for a hotel closer to the old town and it was a good move. It was cheaper to get taxis everyday than upgrade to probably poorer hotels. This hotel was superb. Fantastic room, balcony and the shower was excellent. Very good cleaners and staff kept the grounds immaculate. The food was very nice and loads to chose from at breakfast. Cannot speak highly enough of the staff, especially at the bar in the main lobby area. The best cocktails we have ever had were from here, we have yet to have a mohito to rival the ones here, and we tried a good few! Very nice pool area. Great massages. Handy little shop and internet point. Strongly recommend having a look around the church next door, impressive building. Read more Hide description

Great hotel in centrally located in Habana. The staff is amazing...very friendly but professional. The Hotel was spotless with big rooms (mine overlooked the pool). The buffet breakfast was great with lots of yummy foods. The people of this country are truly beautiful souls! I will be back Read more Hide description

Nice hotel, staff lovely and friendly. Very quiet though more like a business hotel. About 30 min cab ride into Havana. Pool very nice but not a lot going on. Nice Spa reasonable prices. We stayed Bed & Breakfast and then ate in the bar for 3 nights as there was nowhere locally to get food other than the hotel. Breakfast was nice, huge choice of food. Not very near any beach and area around hotel seems rather run down but then, most of Cuba is run down or falling down! Rooms large and spacious, cleaned every day. Adequately furnished but not luxury. Read more Hide description

we spent 2 weeks in April at this hotel ,, room was very nice, hotel was clean, really enjoyed the staff. Mildred the personal lady was especially helpful , my husband had injured his finger. in canada before we left and Mildred was awesome translating for us as we do not speak spanish .. the nurses at the hotel took great care of my husband, We found the breakfast very good lots of variety so didnt get bored with the food .We went out for dinners and found a few really nice resturants close by and the food was really good .. Lobster was fantastic and cheap 12-14 dollars . We rented a car and hired a driver that spoke english { that was the only bad experience!!! } Carlos Havier ... he is a lacal cab driver , we found that he was dishonest and he way over charged us compared to what he said he would charge.. although we did see alot of the country in the three days he drove us seemed like it was places he had pre arranged and not nessesarilly where we wanted to go.all in all it was a great holiday and Cuba was very nice the people freindly . Read more Hide description

Stayed end of March 2012 for 3 nights. Lovely large room overlooking the pool. Bath and shower, but no bath plug! Plenty of hot water. Great buffet breakfast with plenty of choice. Courtesy bus into Havana, picks up at other hotels. Taxi into Havana 10cucs. Lovely clean pool after a trip into Havana. Pool towels provided. About 20 mins from centre of Havana. Read more Hide description

It's Cuba, and this place didn't disappoint because I knew I wouldn't be getting a North American 5-star experience. My most important concern was cleanliness and I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the room was. The maids did a superb job daily and we never had any problems with bugs. The bathroom was beautiful, spacious, and spotless. The service was hit or miss, but overall we didn't have any real complaints. The hotel restaurant should be avoided like the plague. It was costly and the food and service was some of the worst we experienced while in Cuba. The pool was beautiful and the free breakfast was great. Plenty of selection and always a great way to start the day. Pancakes and french toast were especially good. The only real complaint with the hotel is location, but I knew that going in. Still, I liked having a quite place to come relax in the evening and Miramar definitely offered us that. With the various shuttles and cheap cab rides into town, we were happy with the location despite the distance from Old Havana. Read more Hide description

Could not get adequate response from reception to request for an iron. Eventually got one with a 1 metre cord and was advised to use the floor as an ironing board. Was told twice by reception staff that there is NO ironing board in the hotel. I found one propped up at the door of an adjacent room and told reception but staff still insisted that there is NO ironing board in the hotel!! I then asked for an iron and my wife also asked but no response. No response also to request for bottled water for mini bar. No tip left for maid!! I'm sure she wonders why. Cuba was wonderfull - this bad experience followed a great 8 nights at TRYP PENINSULA Varadero. Read more Hide description

Stayed 18 March 2012 for four nights. The Hotel has brightly coloured rooms which are quite large and we had a balcony looking over the pool. Breakfast is very good with a large choice to eat. Staff in the hotel are very helpful. If you want a quiet hotel after a busy day in Havan this is the place because it is about 15 minute from the city centre. The hotel have a bus to and from the city centre but check where he is going to pick up because we waited where we got off and the bus stopped about 500 yards away so by the time we got there is pulled away. Read more Hide description

Hotel Quinta Avenida was a quiet destination in Habana, although you need a taxi to get to old Habana or the center of the city, it is a great spot to get away and have a quiet place to relax after a busy day sightseeing. We enjoyed the amenities, including a great pool area, and very comfortable rooms. Read more Hide description

This is probably one of the nicer hotels as far as Western amenities (A/C, good shower with hot water, big room, views of the water, pool), but if I were doing our trip over, I would stay at the Hotel Nationale or Santa Isabel in Old Havana (especially since this was our first and maybe only time in Cuba). This hotel is in Miramar, which is about 20 minutes from Old Havana, and for us, it would have been better to stay in Old Havana so we could walk those beautiful streets in the mornings, days or evenings more easily. We were in town for a wedding so had limited free time and we spent a lot of our free time just getting to and from our hotel. That said, it's nicely decorated and spacious and very comfortable which is rare in Havana, but once we visited the older hotels we realized we would have much rather had character and a good location in Old Havana over the comforts of home. Read more Hide description

The bar staff was friendly and the welcome from the concierge on arrival was really pleasant. However things changed when your departing and we were travelling to Varadero to our next hotel and I wanted to organise a taxi. We asked the bell boy and was quoted this inflated price, we knew it was inflated as you have to get a taxi to anywhere as the hotel is well out of Habana and your trapped in a residental area. I went outside and asked a Taxi driver and the rate was a lot less, when I got the family the taxi was gone as the conceirge had chased them off. I then tried to check out and the hassle was not great. Infact its started feel very intimidating, we finally had no choice but to accept the taxi and the smiles on the staff face told it all. The food was ok for breakfast. The pool was frozen. When you add the costs of taxi's back and forth and the rip off on back handers on taxis...I strongly suggest stay in town. I just also recieved a credit card charge which is not mine..don't use credit card use cash. Read more Hide description

We stayed at this hotel from 18/0312 - 21/03/12 as part of a ten night holiday before moving onto Varadero. We stayed on a b & b basis as we knew that we were going to be in central Habana for evening meals and tours etc. People have mentioned about the vibrant colours of rooms and lobbies etc, and yes they are but come on this is Cuba and the Carribean so what do you expect!? We thought that it all added to the holiday. Staff were exeptionally friendly and helpful and we would like to specifically say a big thank you to Mildrey from customer services and the security guy who helped us imensley, as well as our cleaner who was lovely but just a general big thank you to all staff.They really seemed to go out of their way to help us in any way they could. When they knew of our annivesary we were treated to a champagne lunch in our room free of charge and the room decorated with flowers. It may cost 10 CUC's to get into "downtown", but after hearing of the shocking stories of Central Habana hotels from people who travelled up from Varadero its worth it. Even our tour guides mentioned that the 5th Avenue hotels are 100% better than those centrally located. If you get the chance too book your own car there is a guy who's name is Eddie and has a 1969 Buick convertible and was worth every penny the nickname we gave him was "Nice guy Eddie" which I think says it all. If you do get to stay here do not hesitate it is a greta hotel. Thanks again to all staff from the Cavanagh's in room 4009!!! Read more Hide description

While I enjoyed my stay at this hotel, the accommodations overall were lacking. The hallways were torn up and the carpeting was this nightmarish blue that is ingrained into my head. The rooms themselves were cozy but the beds were just awful. At first glance, I knew that my sleeping experience was not going to be up to par. What bothered me most about my room wasn't really the sterile cold environment like the one you get at a hospital but the fact that there were tiny ants all over the place in our room. We stayed there for a week and they did nothing to alleviate this problem. On top of that, I dont think they replaced our sheets or towels unless we explicitly asked them too. The good thing about this hotel is that there is a FX desk to help exchange money and the bar was open 24/7. When you go out into the restaurant area be sure to eat at the less casual outdoor restaurant as the food selection is much better than the main restaurant. Overall, come here if you want a cheap option but I think you can find better places in Mira Mar or Havana Vieja. Read more Hide description